- March 31, 2026
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Just about every day in high school, Judy Hutchinson would don her string bikini, meet up with friends and ride her bike over the bridge to Siesta Key. She and her classmates would hang out, sunbathe and just engulf themselves in the beach life.
Some five decades later, Judy — now Judy Johnson — owns Swim City, where roughly 20,000 bikinis are on display in three local stores. But that’s not all. Swim City also stocks men’s swimwear, hats, cover-ups, sunglasses, footwear — pretty much anything beachy.
In 1989, Johnson and her husband, TJ, were working in local radio when they pounced on the opportunity to buy Swim Mart in Sarasota from a man looking to leave the business. The following year, they opened their second location at the Bay Area Outlet Mall in Clearwater. Their timing was impeccable. The couple got into the outlet mall category just as it was taking off. At one point, they owned eight Swim Mart outlets in Central Florida.
TJ died in 2003, but Judy continued in the business. In 2006, she bought Swim City, which had been on Stickney Point Road since 1968, a half mile from the bridge to Siesta Key. Johnson developed Swim City into a more upmarket brand than Swim Mart. In another example of impeccable timing, her outlet mall leases phased out just as that shopping concept began to wane.
Currently, the flagship on Stickney Point has sister stores on Longboat Key and in downtown Sarasota. One Swim Mart remains in Englewood, and Johnson said she’s in the process of turning it into a Swim City.
At 67, Johnson still works full time. Her son Nick, 31, is the company’s vice president; her other son Tom, 34, is a consultant. Nick was instrumental in developing Swim City’s online business, but Johnson estimates 80% of sales still take place in the brick-and-mortar stores.
Johnson has lived on Siesta Key since 2010. Here are some of her key thoughts and recollections.
Bikinis might seem expensive, but it has a lot to do with the fabrics and the printing. The suit has to have that four-way stretch. Believe it or not, there’s quite a bit of construction that goes into the garment.
I’m in each of the stores on a daily basis, checking on things. I’m on the floor most of the time when I’m there. I like to work with customers.
I’ve had customers tell me that they live on Lido Beach and hit all the three [Swim City] stores in the same day. Can you believe this?
I didn’t actually grow up on Siesta Key, but it feels like I did because my grandparents lived there and babysat me while my parents worked. There were no houses on the west side of Beach Road, so we had direct access. We used to go there and play while my great-grandfather would swim laps in the Gulf.
When I was young, Siesta Key beach was wide open. There were no houses on it. We’d ride our bikes right on the beach.
I grew up a shopper. I was in the malls a lot.
I remember the first house built right on Siesta Key Beach. It was yellow. I remember thinking, “When I go to college, I’m gonna come back and rent that house for the summer.” It was, like, my dream. I never ended up doing it.
TJ and I, our dream was to own a radio station, but the prices were really escalating and it wasn’t attainable. Fortunately, the opportunity to buy Swim Mart came up.
When we first opened Swim Mart, I stayed in radio [sales] at WDUV (105.5 FM, “the Dove”), the elevator-music station. We needed the paycheck. TJ mostly ran the store. I worked there on weekends.
The outlet mall business was really good, so for my 35th birthday, TJ bought me an acre right on the Siesta Key beachfront. That was 1994. We had the plans to build a beautiful home. Unfortunately, TJ passed away, so we never built the house. I sold the property in 2004 and we tripled our money.
My sons have the necessary tools and education to take us to the next level. I’m very, very proud of that, and it gives me a lot of comfort and assurance.
I live on Hanson Bayou, and every night I walk down to Shell Beach. It clears my head after a busy day. I always put my feet in the water. I see sharks and dolphins on a regular basis. And a million sunsets. It’s a public beach, and I’d really like them to make sure to protect it. I think [privatizing it] would be very shortsighted for the economy and the health of the community.
